North Korean refugee crashes stolen bus while trying to return

The man had already fled to South Korea in 2011, but probably had difficulties adapting to the lifestyle there. The man therefore tried to drive a stolen bus over the Tongil Bridge in Paju, south of the heavily fortified demilitarized zone, on Tuesday. He was warned by soldiers, but did not stop and crashed into the barricade.

“He lives in difficult economic conditions as a construction worker and still misses his family in the north,” an investigator told Agence France-Presse. Police are considering charging the man in his 30s with theft and violating national security laws, the investigator added.

More than 34,000 North Koreans have fled to the South since the war in the 1950s. The reverse movement rarely happens. The latest figures, which date from 2022, indicate that approximately 30 North Koreans who fled have returned since 2012. But there may be many more unreported cases.